1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to heat activated transfers and appliqués that are used to apply a variety of different indicia onto a variety of different substrates. The particular indicia can be used as a decorative element such as appliqué text, logo graphics or numbers for adhesive application directly onto garments, apparel, and accessories, for identification, decoration, trademarking or otherwise embellishing the final product.
2. Description of the Background
Fashion, “basic” and performance apparel, uniform, swimwear and intimate apparel and accessory manufacturers use various methods to apply decoration and identification to stretchable garments and textiles. Common technologies include silk-screening, screen-printing, sonic welding, direct embroidery and heat activated transfers as the primary methods for decorating and identification of these stretchable garments and textiles.
Silk-screening of logos or emblems, though commonly used, does not result in a product that withstands repeated stretching, and is a complex and time-consuming process. In addition, the designs created by silk-screening are flat, lack texture, and do not withstand repeated industrial or home laundering. These deficiencies are avoided by embroidery; consequently, many companies prefer embroidery as their primary method for applying decoration and identification over silk-screening.
Sonic welding is another method used to apply decoration and identification to garments and textiles. This process requires the creation of unique, expensive special dies for any design to be applied. The quick-change requirements associated with the performance apparel industry make this process slow and relatively expensive. Sonic welding allows texturing, but also requires chemical compounds that some companies find unacceptable, and that can result in a product that does not stand stretching or repeated home and industrial laundering. Indeed, this process typically is not used by the uniform industry for these reasons. Embroidery has instead become the primary method for applying decoration and identification in that industry.
Embroidery is typically performed by a machine that applies stitching of various colors and styles to fabric to create a design. Embroidered designs have a much greater aesthetic value, and stand repeated home and industrial launderings. However, this too is a complex, time-consuming process, and results in a decoration or identification that does not stretch with the substrate.
There have been a few attempts at providing an embroidered appearance without utilizing embroidery. U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,943 to Stahl discloses a method for producing a multi-colored emblem that may be ironed-on to garments to provide an embroidered appearance. This method entails laminating a material blank, cutting the laminated material to a specific design, embroidering about the periphery of the cut design, laminating the assembly onto a second material blank, and coating the underside with a thermal adhesive layer. The emblem can then be heat-sealed to a garment. Despite the ability to give a realistic embroidered look, emblems produced using Stahls' method are relatively large, bulky and inflexible.
There are other transfer emblems that may be applied to various cloth surfaces without embroidery. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,001 to Mahn, Jr. issued Jun. 3, 1997 shows cloth transfers that include a cloth layer coated with a plastic layer which is, in turn, coated with a pressure sensitive adhesive layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,176 to Myers issued Jun. 22, 1999 shows a composite design for attachment to another fabric article, comprising an underlying layer of twill fabric on one side of which a design is printed and heat cured. The twill is cut into a desired shape so that the twill and the ink portion form the composite design. Methods of making and attaching the composite design are disclosed.
Though stitched embroidery is avoided, in both of the foregoing cases resulting product are not stretchable and are is inferior in durability to washing.
For these reasons, apparel manufacturers often use heat activated transfer and appliquémethods to apply decoration and identification to garments and textiles, particularly those garments and textiles subject to stretching. Apparel manufacturers tend to use thermoplastic transfers, flocked thermoplastic transfers, thermo-transfer films, thermo-transfer cellulosic nonwoven webs, or elastomer transfers.
Particularly when applying these to a substrate, there are a number of different critical criteria for a heat activated appliqué. The indicia or heat activated appliqué must not curl after being adhered. The feel of the heat activated appliqué, once applied to the substrate, must feel like a textile product which can offer a variety of characteristics but is differentiated from plastic films which have very smooth non-tactile surfaces unless mechanically created or altered. A fabric surface appliqué has superior durability through wash and dry cycles, and through other fabric care procedures inasmuch as the appliqué can be ironed which is not possible with plastic films.
An increasingly popular manner of marking sports jerseys is to apply a first numeral or letter and then apply a second numeral or letter of a smaller size directly upon the first numeral or letter, providing a three dimensional appearance. This requires two heat activated appliqués, one of which is bondable atop the other. To provide for ease of application and flexibility, it is preferable that the upper heat activated appliqué layer be bonded to the lower in advance of final application to the apparel, garment, bag or home furnishing. This greatly facilitates applying the appliqué upon the substrate of the product to be embellished.
A limitation of existing appliqués are the greater rigidity or stiffness of the appliqué as compared to the product to which they are being adhered. When applied, such appliqués can decrease the comfort to the wearer of an apparel garment and change the drape characteristics of the product making it less visually appealing.
Many apparel products which have been traditionally decorated with appliqués are being made of performance materials which can be lighter weight or have stretch materials used in their constructions. A thermally adhered appliqué made with stretch fabrics allows the stretch and drape characteristics of the apparel to be retained. A thermally applied appliqué made of stretch fabric could be applied to performance apparel such as swim suits, bicycle pants and compression garments to embellish these garments, which could not have otherwise been decorated with traditional appliqués.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,783 to Mahn, Jr. issued May 2, 1995 relates to a heat activated appliqué for providing in particular numbers and letters for sports jerseys and is comprised of an upper colored thermoplastic elastomer layer bonded to a cloth substrate by a thermoplastic adhesive. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,458 to Mahn, Jr. issued Sep. 9, 1997 is similar to the foregoing emphasizes kiss-cut lines through the heat activated adhesive layer and indicia-bearing layer, but not through the support layer, to separate indicia-bearing portions of said appliqué from waste portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,841 to Mahn, Sr., et al. issued May 9, 1995 relates to a heat activated transfer comprised of a lower thermoplastic adhesive layer, an upper transparent thermoset layer, and indicia formed by dye sublimation printing. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,841 to Mahn, Sr., et al. issued Jun. 5, 2001 is identical to '841 (originally a divisional of the application that went on to become Registration U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,841), and includes the counterpart method claims).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,645 to Dressler (Stahls) issued May 17, 1994 shows heat-applied athletic lettering formed by coating a layer of thermoplastic material (pigmented polyurethane) onto a transparent polyester plastic film.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,265,053 to Krozner et al. issued Jun. 24, 2001 relates to a printable material comprised of a flexible first layer (may be a film or cellulosic nonwoven web) and a second layer (which includes a nonwoven web). The layers are bonded either thermally or using an adhesive. All of the claims require a catalyst on the second layer (polyvinyl alcohol or polyoxyethylene) for increasing the viscosity of inkjet toner. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,703,086 to Krozner, et al. issued Mar. 9, 2004 is a divisional of the '053, but includes claims that do not require a viscosity promoter; instead, they require the first layer to have a basis weight of from about 20 to about 140 grams per square meter).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,387 to Mahn issued Jun. 28, 1983 relates to a flocked material having a first thermosetting adhesive layer and a second thermoplastic adhesive layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,855 to Mahn, Jr. et al. issued Mar. 26, 2002 relates to a heat activated transfer and method of transfer comprised of a laminate comprised of a pigmented polyurethane (or blown film) layer and a polyester adhesive layer.
United States Patent Applications 20030091799 and 20030134113 both by Franke filed Dec. 20, 2002 relate to a transfer comprised of a colored carrier sheet, an elastomer layer, a heat-activated thermoplastic polymeric glue layer.
While all of the transfers described in these patents and patent applications avoid the problems inherent in embroidery or other methods of producing identification or decoration marks, none of them provides the texture and appearance of fabric or an embroidered appliqué. Further, none of them is immune from cracking as a result of the long-term stretching inherent to being bonded to a flexible substrate. It would be greatly advantageous to provide a transfer appliqué that would provide the ease of thermoplastic transfers with the appearance of embroidery while flexing with a stretchable garment or other substrate.